1990: End of May – Saddam Hussein (Iraqi dictator) talks about the overproduction of oil in Kuwait and United Arab Emirates and it being a move of economic warfare again Iraq. Mid-July – Iraq accuses Kuwait of stealing oil from an oil field on the Iraqi-Kuwait border and gives notice of military action. August 2nd – Iraq invades Kuwait, U.N. condemns Iraq’s invasion and demands that they discontinue their mission. August 7th – Saudi Arabia requests U.S. troops to help defend against Iraqi attacks. August 28th – Iraq declares Kuwait its 19th province. September 14th - U.N. sets deadline for Iraqi withdrawal of troops. 1991: January 22nd – Iraq begins blowing up Kuwaiti oil wells. February 8th – over half a million U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia February 22nd – U.S. issues a 24 hour ultimatum: either Iraqi troops withdraw from Kuwait or ground war would start. February 25th – missile hits Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. February 26th – Hussein announces Iraq’s withdrawal from Kuwait.
Primary Source: Interview This interview would be a primary source because it is with my mother who was present during the second gulf war. The interview was about her experiences and what the war was really like, from a citizen's point of view.
Q: How did it all start? Where were you living? What was your first response and what did you do?
A: It all began with the government. Started to feel it at the mid of august. Started threatening, everyone decided to delay school, it was cut off. Companies and government, threatening with chemical missile, government started spreading information and spreading out masks, dispersing information, taping windows, if birds start to die, if you smell black pepper, it might mean that there’s something in the air. Alarm sound, very loud, very annoying, wakes anyone up, it makes you realize that war is here... Horrible.
Q: How did you know that you needed to leave?
A: In your mind, you don’t really realize it until the first missile drops in our city, then everyone takes their families west, to a safe area. We lived in the area of the oil, most dangerous, he threatened to burn Saudi Arabia’s oil wells, which is exactly under where we live, we decided to escape the place. Kuwaiti people escaped to the Saudi border, no money, no time for anything. Some of them got shot and killed on the way to Saudi Arabia, millions of Kuwaiti people are there with no money, the only way to house them would be to open the schools to them, the school buildings were free because it was summer. King Fahad opened the schools to them, offered them 3 meals everyday, arranged that each family will get a class to sleep in, families should be served with food and blankets and pillows. Although the city is now empty because everyone is afraid to go out to the street, yet the restaurants were working 24 hours a day on order from the king. That was the best thing that could be done for their situation.
Q: Where did you go?
A: We left and stayed in a temporary apartment, there is nothing you know around, most essential things aren’t around, everything around is deserted, no toys, no medicine, no cleaning equipment, at the same time, it’s war. You can’t go out and leave and risk everything, only for food. Families start gathering together, there’s this fear that you don’t want to die alone, we went to my grandmother’s house and everyone stayed together, you can feel the fear around, nobody sleeps, everyone is constantly watching the windows, the problem was, it’s too hot for birds to be around so we can’t realize when they start dying. No internet, everyone gathered around the television, watching CNN for any news around. Every time the alarm was on, everyone should put their masks on and watch the windows for unusual sky or birds falling dead from the sky for chemical bombs. The alarm was one of the most horrible sounds out there. It was scary and it was unbelievable. You start worrying about everything, you constantly feel nervous and sad, you are away from your house and job, maybe you will die, maybe you will never go back to you house, maybe it will be destroyed. You feel anger towards him, not understanding why he is doing this. A mixture of feelings. I was away from my house and everything for around 4 months; you can’t imagine the tough times we went through. The Americans came, stared destroying Iraq, we saw on the news, they were looking for Hussein. They freed Kuwait by driving out the Iraqi soldiers from there, and then went into Iraq looking for him.
Q: How did you know that it was safe to go back?
A: Kuwaiti people started moving back to their country, we realized that he doesn’t have power anymore, he isn’t threatening us anymore, It gradually started getting better, we started seeing Kuwaiti people moving back because it’s safe there, so it must be safe here in Saudi Arabia, the Iraqi army is gone, there is no power. Nobody said, “You can go home now,” it was more of our decision and our decision was our own risk.
Secondary Sources: Video and Picture
The video is a documentary based on the gulf war; it is very interesting, fitting in with the timeline. It's very clear and basic, describing the tactics and actions. It may be a bit long, as it is an hour long, for that reason, I have picked the most interesting and relevant bits, which will be stated under the video.
Especially 5:50-6:40, 15:48-19:01, 31:03-35:47, 38:17-50:00
The picture would be relevant because they are mentioned in the interview and the video. The gas masks were handed out to everyone in case a chemical bomb was released, that would be the only way to survive. So every citizen was given a gas mask, they were everywhere, not just with the army.
Written Recount:
In 1990, Hussein accused Kuwait of stealing oil from a field on the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border. After that, he invaded Kuwait, causing people to head towards the Saudi border. He blew up Kuwait’s oil wells, causing panic and fear in Dhahran (where my parents lived) as they are literally on millions of oil wells that could be blown up next as the Iraqi moving toward the Saudi border. Kuwaiti people that fled were housed and given the necessary needs for living, causing school to be out for the following 6 months. People were always in fear of the Iraqi soldiers entering their city or getting a chemical bomb around them, masks were given out, there was help from the U.S. army and the British army. After the military launched attacks toward the Iraqi army, driving them out of Kuwait, This caused Kuwaiti people to go back to their cities and houses, as everyone knew that Hussein had no power left, that he was no threat to them.
Operation Desert Storm
Basic Timeline
1990:
End of May – Saddam Hussein (Iraqi dictator) talks about the overproduction of oil in Kuwait and United Arab Emirates and it being a move of economic warfare again Iraq.
Mid-July – Iraq accuses Kuwait of stealing oil from an oil field on the Iraqi-Kuwait border and gives notice of military action.
August 2nd – Iraq invades Kuwait, U.N. condemns Iraq’s invasion and demands that they discontinue their mission.
August 7th – Saudi Arabia requests U.S. troops to help defend against Iraqi attacks.
August 28th – Iraq declares Kuwait its 19th province.
September 14th - U.N. sets deadline for Iraqi withdrawal of troops.
1991:
January 22nd – Iraq begins blowing up Kuwaiti oil wells.
February 8th – over half a million U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia
February 22nd – U.S. issues a 24 hour ultimatum: either Iraqi troops withdraw from Kuwait or ground war would start.
February 25th – missile hits Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
February 26th – Hussein announces Iraq’s withdrawal from Kuwait.
Primary Source: Interview
This interview would be a primary source because it is with my mother who was present during the second gulf war. The interview was about her experiences and what the war was really like, from a citizen's point of view.
Q: How did it all start? Where were you living? What was your first response and what did you do?
A: It all began with the government. Started to feel it at the mid of august. Started threatening, everyone decided to delay school, it was cut off. Companies and government, threatening with chemical missile, government started spreading information and spreading out masks, dispersing information, taping windows, if birds start to die, if you smell black pepper, it might mean that there’s something in the air. Alarm sound, very loud, very annoying, wakes anyone up, it makes you realize that war is here... Horrible.
Q: How did you know that you needed to leave?
A: In your mind, you don’t really realize it until the first missile drops in our city, then everyone takes their families west, to a safe area. We lived in the area of the oil, most dangerous, he threatened to burn Saudi Arabia’s oil wells, which is exactly under where we live, we decided to escape the place. Kuwaiti people escaped to the Saudi border, no money, no time for anything. Some of them got shot and killed on the way to Saudi Arabia, millions of Kuwaiti people are there with no money, the only way to house them would be to open the schools to them, the school buildings were free because it was summer. King Fahad opened the schools to them, offered them 3 meals everyday, arranged that each family will get a class to sleep in, families should be served with food and blankets and pillows. Although the city is now empty because everyone is afraid to go out to the street, yet the restaurants were working 24 hours a day on order from the king. That was the best thing that could be done for their situation.
Q: Where did you go?
A: We left and stayed in a temporary apartment, there is nothing you know around, most essential things aren’t around, everything around is deserted, no toys, no medicine, no cleaning equipment, at the same time, it’s war. You can’t go out and leave and risk everything, only for food. Families start gathering together, there’s this fear that you don’t want to die alone, we went to my grandmother’s house and everyone stayed together, you can feel the fear around, nobody sleeps, everyone is constantly watching the windows, the problem was, it’s too hot for birds to be around so we can’t realize when they start dying. No internet, everyone gathered around the television, watching CNN for any news around. Every time the alarm was on, everyone should put their masks on and watch the windows for unusual sky or birds falling dead from the sky for chemical bombs. The alarm was one of the most horrible sounds out there. It was scary and it was unbelievable.
You start worrying about everything, you constantly feel nervous and sad, you are away from your house and job, maybe you will die, maybe you will never go back to you house, maybe it will be destroyed. You feel anger towards him, not understanding why he is doing this. A mixture of feelings. I was away from my house and everything for around 4 months; you can’t imagine the tough times we went through. The Americans came, stared destroying Iraq, we saw on the news, they were looking for Hussein. They freed Kuwait by driving out the Iraqi soldiers from there, and then went into Iraq looking for him.
Q: How did you know that it was safe to go back?
A: Kuwaiti people started moving back to their country, we realized that he doesn’t have power anymore, he isn’t threatening us anymore,
It gradually started getting better, we started seeing Kuwaiti people moving back because it’s safe there, so it must be safe here in Saudi Arabia, the Iraqi army is gone, there is no power. Nobody said, “You can go home now,” it was more of our decision and our decision was our own risk.
Secondary Sources: Video and Picture
The video is a documentary based on the gulf war; it is very interesting, fitting in with the timeline. It's very clear and basic, describing the tactics and actions. It may be a bit long, as it is an hour long, for that reason, I have picked the most interesting and relevant bits, which will be stated under the video.
Especially 5:50-6:40, 15:48-19:01, 31:03-35:47, 38:17-50:00
The picture would be relevant because they are mentioned in the interview and the video. The gas masks were handed out to everyone in case a chemical bomb was released, that would be the only way to survive. So every citizen was given a gas mask, they were everywhere, not just with the army.
Written Recount:
In 1990, Hussein accused Kuwait of stealing oil from a field on the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border. After that, he invaded Kuwait, causing people to head towards the Saudi border. He blew up Kuwait’s oil wells, causing panic and fear in Dhahran (where my parents lived) as they are literally on millions of oil wells that could be blown up next as the Iraqi moving toward the Saudi border. Kuwaiti people that fled were housed and given the necessary needs for living, causing school to be out for the following 6 months. People were always in fear of the Iraqi soldiers entering their city or getting a chemical bomb around them, masks were given out, there was help from the U.S. army and the British army. After the military launched attacks toward the Iraqi army, driving them out of Kuwait, This caused Kuwaiti people to go back to their cities and houses, as everyone knew that Hussein had no power left, that he was no threat to them.